Youth Pastor Finds Abandoned Baby On Side Of Rural Road

Rodger Prater couldn't believe his eyes. While driving back from a church outing, the Oklahoma youth pastor found an abandoned baby on the side of a rural road. And he know God's hand was all over this discovery!

Credit: Rodger Prater

Youth Pastor Found An Abandoned Baby

Rodger Prater, who works at Abba’s House of Worship Center in Ada, Oklahoma, had a van full of kids when he made the discovery. He and his wife, Nancy, were taking the kids back to church after an outing to an amusement park.

They were cruising down a rural, wooded stretch of I-40 when he spotted a car seat on the side of the road.

“I couldn’t fathom it at first,” he says. “Then the little boy’s feet moved. I told my wife under my breath, ‘I think I see a baby.’”

Rodger pulled over, and his worry only grew when he didn't see any movement from the baby boy. The car seat was about 10 feet away from the white line on the shoulder of the busy, two-lane highway.

“His eyes were shut,” he says. “I was freaking out. I thought, ‘Don’t let there be anything wrong with him.’”

But as soon as Rodger picked up the car seat by the handle, the little boy's eyes popped open. Rodger rushed to the van, cranking the air conditioning to help cool him down. Nancy held the while he dialed 911.

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Divine Intervention

The 1-month-old boy didn't show any signs of distress when Rodger found him. Police arrived and estimated the car seat had been sitting on the side of the road for about a half an hour.

“He was just a little fella,” Rodger recalls. “Thank God we got there in time.”

Emergency personnel took the infant straight to the hospital. Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department confirmed the little boy is just fine. In his car seat, police found a birth certificate, a social security card, and $5,500 in cash.

The baby is now in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and no arrests have been made in the incident, although the child’s mother was able to be located based on information contained in the identification documents.

Of course, the situation could have easily become much more dire had more time passed. But thankfully, the youth pastor found this sweet boy -- a miracle he credits to our Heavenly Father.

“All I know is that God intervened,” he said. “One day when the baby is old enough to understand, he can call me and I will tell him that it was no fluke that we found him. We found him for a reason. I will tell him that God has a plan for his life.”